2 Timothy 2:8-15

8 Remember Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead and descended from David. This is my good news.9 This is the reason I’m suffering to the point that I’m in prison like a common criminal. But God’s word cannot be imprisoned.10 This is why I endure everything for the sake of those who are chosen by God so that they too may experience salvation in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.11 This saying is reliable: “If we have died together, we will also live together.12 If we endure, we will also rule together. If we deny him, he will also deny us.13 If we are disloyal, he stays faithful” because he can’t be anything else than what he is.14 Remind them of these things and warn them in the sight of God not to engage in battles over words that aren’t helpful and only destroy those who hear them.15 Make an effort to present yourself to God as a tried-and-true worker, who doesn’t need to be ashamed but is one who interprets the message of truth correctly.

Paul clearly evidences God’s power. Sometimes when I read his letters, I picture myself next to him, chained to the stone wall of a small, dark cell. I can feel despair closing in through the moist walls, the frightening silence interrupted only by the distant din of life on the...

God, thank you for being faithful when I am faithless. Forgive my tendency to attempt to earn your approval, and help me to surrender to you so that I can live in your freedom. Amen.

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One might have expected Jeremiah to advise the exiles to maintain their independence and be ready to return to Judah. Instead, he tells them to settle in, to build and plant, to seek the welfare of Babylon, even to pray for its prosperity. The judging purposes of God call for extended exile and not impa- tient rebellion. In the story of the ten lepers in Luke, one returns to praise and thank Jesus for giving him health. Only then do we learn that he is a Samaritan. The ultimate outsider becomes the model of faith. Second Timothy bears witness to the awe- some character of God that always honors divine commitments, thereby appearing to humans full of surprises. For the psalmist, God merits the worship of all the earth.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

• Read Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7. When have you found yourself in exile? How did you cope with the situation? What reminded you that God had not abandoned you?
• Read Psalm 66:1-12. When has the testing of God brought you out to “a spacious place”?
• Read 2 Timothy 2:8-15. How do you ready yourself to pres- ent yourself as one approved by God?
• Read Luke 17:11-19. The writer states that Jesus’ question, “Where are the other nine?,” invites us to receive God’s healing of illness and inner wounds. What in your life needs God’s healing touch?

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